Tag Archives: ny gop

Meet the Future of the NY GOP: Marc Molinaro

One of the worst kept secrets is how much the Young Republicans love Marc Molinaro. The joke with my boss and peerless leader Lynn Krogh (Bon Jovi to my Sambora) is that she’s the chair of the Draft Marc Molinaro for (Place Higher Office Here) PAC. Right now I think we have him down for County Executive, though I still like the way Sen. Molinaro sounds…and I don’t mean state senator. We still need someone to run against Kristen Gilligan.

(Type Gillibrand in your Blackberry and it spell checks the name as Gilligan. Who am I to argue with my Smartphone?)

For now, I think he’s busy enough with his current gig as the #2 Republican in the Assembly, plus Gov. Cuomo (who sounds like he’s going to be a great Republican Governor) to take part in his Mandate Relief Redesign Team. But who is Assemblyman Molinaro? Glad you asked…

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[VIDEO] Meet the Future of the NY GOP: Lee Zeldin and Greg Ball

I criticize the New York GOP as much as anyone who doesn’t have to rely on party patronage to support himself. It can get awkward sometimes, what with me being the new media director of the NYS Young Republicans and the host of our weekly podcast “The Right Hook.” I guess you can call me anti-establishment, but that would require there to be an establishment in the first place (but at least we aren’t as bad as California).

That said, one of the benefits of hosting “The Right Hook” is that it allows me to talk to various candidates and other elected officials throughout the state…and I’ve had the pleasure of being introduced to more than a few cats who, as jaded as I can be sometimes, really to represent the best we have and are not only the future of the state party, but the country as well. Two of them were just elected to the state senate: Lee Zeldin and Greg Ball.

Neither of whom wasted anytime in getting right to work. Sen. Zeldin introduced a bill calling for a New York State constitutional amendment which will require a two-thirds “super majority” vote in both the Senate and the Assembly to increase taxes and fees, moved out of committee and onto the floor of the Senate for a vote. It passed the senate 41-19:
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Coxblock

At this point you just have to wonder if Rick Lazio used to beat up Ed Cox as a kid, and that’s what this is really all about.

After the Steve Levy Experiment was an epic failure (where even a blogger could tell you he was never getting the 50+1 needed to get on the ballot), there’s now a FOURTH candidate for Governor…

GOP Chairman Ed Cox, whose decision to recruit Democrat Steve Levy, the Suffolk county executive, as a potential GOP standard-bearer this fall has roiled the party, has told people about a possible new contender entering the crowded gubernatorial primary, two sources tell POLITICO. Cox has made reference to the possibility of a fourth hopeful, and sources identified the contender as M. Myers Mermel, the Westchester businessman who has been waging a run for lieutenant governor – without having a running mate.

Mermel is not seen as a major player — despite an endorsement from former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee and a check from RGA chairman Haley Barbour — and it’s a bit head-scratching as to what the candidate is thinking.

Three things:
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Can Rick Lazio PLEASE Start Running Against Andrew Cuomo?

Those of you who listen to The Right Hook know that besides being a Rick Lazio supporter, my frustration with the state GOP grows week after week, and the main reason is the debacle the Governor’s race has become.

After Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts – where he won a Senate seat held by the Kennedy family since the 50’s – it should have been a no brainer. Brown showed us that a) a Republican can win in a deep “blue state,” and b) the state Attorney General is no longer the heir apparent to state wide races. Rick Lazio could easily be New York’s “Scott Brown” and the day after Brown’s victory was the day to get behind Lazio and start going after Andrew Cuomo full force.

Instead, the party begged the DEMOCRAT Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy into switching parties and running as Governor…even though he has no chance of getting on the ballot.

Which is a shame, because instead of having to waste valuable time and money this year fighting amongst his own party, Lazio could have spent it contrasting between him and his ACTUAL OPPOENENT Andrew Cuomo, as he did yesterday in the Daily News

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